Clarence Thomas (R) on Voting Rights Act: "z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z."

A central provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 could be in peril, judging from tough questioning on Wednesday from the Supreme Court’s more conservative members.

The law, a landmark achievement of the civil rights era was challenged by Shelby County, Ala., which said that requirement had outlived its usefulness and imposed an unwarranted badge of shame on the affected jurisdictions.

Four of the nine-member court’s five more conservative members asked largely skeptical questions about the law. The fifth, Justice Clarence Thomas, did not ask a question, as is typical.

Justice Antonin Scalia called the provision, which requires nine states, mostly in the South, to get federal permission before changing voting procedures, a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.”